Mikhael Grondad
Mikhael Grondad is a Fickolean politician for the Tap Party, and incumbent Secretary of the Economy, and Secretary for the Ministry of Business, arguably possessing one of the highest titles in government. He is an avid supporter of 'Dranklist Economic Theory', the idea that state intervention, regulation, taxes, and state ownership of key parts of the production cycle lead to economic growth in a more equal fashion to pure capitalism. He is also considered an expert in investment philosophy, basing investments on a number of factors as outlined in his books. He has made billions of square for public and state-owned corporations, as well as for the Fickolean government. Early life and career Grondad was born in Birpum Greig, Ficko, and grew up in Alifca City from the age of 12. An early influence of his was Gordon Biggog, who was President from Grondad's birth in 1954 (Mt) till 1963. Grondad's mother was a Demarki immigrant who cleaned houses, whilst his father was the manager of a bank who also invested in the stock market. Grondad's family generated a significant revenue investing in the stock market, however by 1975 (Mt) that money had withered away with poor investments. Aged 18, Mikhael enrolled into New Alifca University to study economics and investment banking. He went on to found his own business after attaining a manjor, an investment firm accepting investments above sq50,000 called 'Grondad Investment Limited'. The Company had very few investors, leading to Grondad splitting the stock in 1978 (Mt) and allowing smaller investments of around sq1,000. At the time, share prices of his investment company had gone down by 200.5%, and as such Grondad needed heavy investment quickly to bring his company back up. He began investing in other investment firms, including buying a 17% stake in 'Johnally Investments', the company of his university acquaintance Brandon Johnally Fisherman. In 1982, the company was acquired by the Ficko City Investment Fund for sq200million, Grondad selling half of his 19% share. Grondad was offered a job in the Investment Fund, which he declined, intending to focus on personal investments. Grondad then notably changed his philosophy to 'State Capitalism', wherein the state should invest in businesses and companies, and spend money on further regulation of the market. In 1984 he published a book, How the State could save the stock market', ''criticising President Fred Bomb's policies of deregulation and suggesting that the government further regulate and invest in public businesses. Grondad's philosophy was predicated on the problems of financial insecurity within the financial sector, and the likelihood of a crash due to overspending within the major banks. Career (1986-) Fred Bomb administration After the crash of 1986, Grondad was recruited to the advisory committee for Prevention of Stock Market Fluctuations, part of the Ministry for Business. Grondad strongly advised that the state needed to intervene in banking practices, and also take control of major investment authorities. For years, the Ficko City Investment Fund had generated trillions of square of income, and had been funded and overseen by the Local government of Ficko City. Grondad pointed to this as an example of how the Fickolean government could oversee investments and control monopolies, as well as promoting ethical businesses and such. These recommendations were 'considered' but not implemented. Grondad was dismissed in 1988, after Fred Bomb lost the next election to James Frymer. Books & investments In 1988, Mikhael Grondad published another book, '''Investing in a time of change' ''which did very well commercially, selling millions of copies. As promised in the book, Grondad used all the royalties from the book to invest in up and coming companies such as Hail Mechanics and Ferissoum Ltd.. These personal investment made Grondad up to sq12billion in profit, after he had sold them in 2001 (Mt). In 1990, he published another book '''Trading Time, which was twice as commercially successful as his previous book, and was widely well reviewed. At this time, Grondad bought shares in Whynil, the share prices of which continued to rise over a long period. In 1993, after a financial crisis, many of Grondad's investments plummeted, and he sold many of his shares in companies and banks. Others he held, despite share prices decreasing by 1000s%. The same year, he met with President James Frymer to discuss what could be done. Grondad was appointed to the Board of Investors to discuss how the crash could be overcome. There was no clear consensus. Some suggested a massive government buyout, others suggested massive loans to businesses, others suggested the government buy shares and nationalise bust companies and banks. Frymer's government began issuing large loans before they were blocked by the Fickolean Supreme Court, as these drastic actions came shortly before the 1993 election, which was then won by Drankli Panda. Drankli Panda administration After becoming President, Drankli Panda issued vast loans to businesses through the newly organised Central Mortgage Bank of Ficko, as well as nationalising and buying out many companies such as Bricense Foodstuffs and Juice Holdings and Financial Services. Grondad was given a position as Business Secretary. Grondad met several times with Drankli, as well as the Board of Business, leaders of the Ministry of Business, led by Secretary Amy Faschance, to discuss new economic strategy. Grondad, alongside Minister Bellera Bronca and Chance Davison, personally oversaw and organised many of these mergers, government acquisitions, and loans. In 1998, prior to Drankli's 1999 vast expansion of 'state ventures', Mikhael Grondad was appointed head of one of four Fickolean state investment ventures, the 'Fickolean Corporate Investment Authority'. This gave him a fixed salary but meant he would use Fickolean state assets to invest in other companies. Within a year, alongside other investors, Grondad made sq12trillion.